In certain respects, this also musters echoes of Eric Chahi’s classic Another World (released in the US as Out of this World). It’s usually functional and meets the basic difficulty level of the game, but it’s stiffer than what players might be used to these days, and a far cry from the fluid action in something like Dead Cells. Bosses and mini-bosses are unique and plentiful and, while Narita Boy is agile to the point of even being a little slippery, button delays and committed attacks often make the frequent combat feel more stilted than empowering.

Special combat and movement abilities are steadily introduced along the adventure, with most fights relegated to trapping the player in screens with scripted sequences of enemies to take down. The gameplay is much more simplistic than its aesthetic may imply. In other words: there’s no tile-repeating techniques here every single screen and area and animation looks painstakingly handcrafted and positioned, pixel by pixel. Many of the characters in Narita Boy are reminiscent of that title’s unique gangly pixel-art style, but also the rich, time-intensive depth of its visual assets. In addition to Tron – from which Narita Boy liberally borrows with its weirdly enthralling, solemn-but-silly digital creationism lore – it feels equally indebted to developer Caypbara Games’ landmark Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery. There are many different touchstones at play here. Related: El Hijo Review: A Wild West Pint-Sized Sneaky Stealth Adventure

At the center is the titular hero, Narita Boy, a player sucked into the world of his own purchased video game to act as a kind of silent wacky sentinel, destined to rescue unfolding laser-lit lands from “HIM.” The protagonist wields the Techno-sword, a tri-colored transforming laser sword used to dispatch a bustling rogue’s gallery of “Stallions,” errant hench-creatures intent on keeping The Digital Kingdom in chaos.

Narita boy platinum